Nkhata Bay District Council has handed over a newly constructed boys hostel worth K262 million to Mzenga Secondary School in the district.
The hostel was built using Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) funds and replaces a previous hostel that was recommended for demolition due to cracks.
The previous hostel, which was valued at K60 million, developed cracks and was marked set for demolition.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Nkhata Bay District Commissioner Rodgers Newa expressed satisfaction with the new hostel, thanking the contractor for adhering to the council’s requirements.
“We thank the contractor for adhering to our requirements. We urge community members, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders to help monitor different projects in the district to ensure successful implementation,” said Newa.
The school’s chairperson, Collins Manda, thanked the district council for the project, saying it will improve the learning environment for students.
“This new hostel will greatly improve the learning environment for our students. We are grateful to the district council for their support,” said Manda.
Meanwhile, Headboy for this school, Steven Bosco hailed the district council, saying the hostel will help reduce congestion as they were using one of the classrooms as a hostel and toilets as bathrooms.
Bosco also asked government to provide another hostel in order to accommodate more boys at the school.
The 56-capacity-hostel has been constructed by Nkhatabay District council with funding from the World Bank through Governance to Enable Service Delivery-GESD.
The school has 326 students and has two hostels for girls.
